Sunday, January 17, 2010

This cannot continue

This topic has been well covered on the blogosphere today, but I thought I'd also join in the call from Valleys Mam for Clegg to step in and sort Lembit out once and for all.

Opik has undoubtedly crossed a line (once again) in his Daily Sport column this week in which he said the following:

“As you probably know, Northern Ireland MP Iris Robinson had an affair. The press went bonkers about it because, like in the film The Graduate, Mrs Robinson had got friendly with a much younger chap. This time it wasn’t Dustin Hoffman, but Kirk McCambley – who was 19 at the time. The fiery politician is married to Peter Robinson, head of the Northern Irish Assembly. Some claim that she was involved in financial wheeling and dealing too. Irate Iris is quitting the politics game, and her husband hasn’t managed to dodge the flak either. Poor Peter’s stepped down as boss of the Assembly for the next six weeks while things get sorted out. But is it fair? No! It’s easy – and dopey – to simply ogle an MP’s private life and pretend that it’s about politics. But why the hell should the Robinsons’ marital matters be splashed over the papers as if it’s the biggest story on earth? Iris’ affair is between her and her husband and should not be treated like an episode of EastEnders. And as for the financial stuff, unless we’re now all expected to grass on each other – and our partners – it’s unreasonable to expect Mr Robinson to be his wife’s keeper”.

The text really does speak for itself - but what's clear is that Mr Opik doesn't deserve to be an MP if he holds these kind of views. He seems to think there's nothing wrong is dodgy dealing. Does he honestly think MP's are above the law, and that people shouldn't "grass" on them when they've done wrong? Then again, he's not exactly whiter than white on the expenses business and there's been THAT cruise. Completely unacceptable.

This is utter disregard for democracy and decancy and if Clegg doesn't call him up on this, then he'll be letting down all Liberal Democrats in Montgomeryshire.

1 comment:

Personally I couldn't care less what Mrs Robinson got up to in her private life, I agree with Lembit when he says its none of our business. Or it would have been if she hadn't launched a viscous and bigoted attack on Lesbian & Gay people - in a fit of moralism. Her hypocrisy makes her fair game. Her financial activities are, quite properly, something that is, and should be, open to public scrutiny. The sex scandal overshadows the alleged dodgy dealings, that is where the real public interest lies.